Architectural Investigator

We are the public body that looks after England’s historic environment. We champion historic places, helping people understand, value and care for them.

Historic England have a fantastic opportunity for you to join us as our Architectural Investigator. This is a fixed term role based out of Cambridge with hybrid working. We offer a wide benefits package including a competitive defined benefit pension scheme to which we make 28.97% employer contributions, a generous 28 days holiday, corporate discounts, free entry into English Heritage sites across the country and development opportunities to ensure you achieve your goals.

What you will be doing:

• Investigate, research and assess aspects of the historic environment, with an emphasis on buildings and the built environment.
• Gather, analyse and interpret research material and field data and disseminate the findings in order to inform the protection and management of the historic environment in support of Historic England's Corporate Plan.
• Work flexibly across regional boundaries to meet research needs as required.
• Carry out exemplary research and investigation as required, including casework for colleagues in Listing and Development Advice, Enhanced Advisory Services and the English Heritage Trust.
• Use primary and secondary sources, including national and regional archives and online sources, and undertake site visits.
• Some picture research and negotiation about image reproduction will also be required.

Please note the role:

• Will require site visits which may be difficult to access by public transport.
• Requires regular travel to sites, libraries and archive centres.
• Will require occasional overnight stays/long working days and some evening and weekend working.
• May involve working at height and on building sites. Such sites may be anywhere in England, not just in the East.

Who we are looking for:

• A high-standard academic and/or professional qualification in architectural history or a related subject. Alternatively, equivalent experience gained through on-the-job training or practical experience.
• A broad knowledge of British architectural history, with a specialism in one or more area.
• Hands-on experience of architectural investigation and analysis (including measured survey/recording) and experience of undertaking documentary research using a variety of sources.
• Experience in producing written text to a high standard, for different audiences and in different media, and in communicating effectively orally.
• Appreciation of the range of approaches used to investigate and analyse buildings and places.
• Experience of working on large projects and within interdisciplinary teams.

We are an equal opportunity employer which values diversity and inclusion. If you have a disability or neurodiversity, we would be happy to discuss reasonable adjustments to the job with you. Having won the Gold Award from MIND for workplace wellbeing in seven consecutive years, we also recognise the importance of a healthy work-life balance.

We are an inclusive employer and believe that flexible working options are for everyone. We want to make sure our working arrangements don’t prevent anyone from joining us because of their personal circumstances. We also want to provide you with the best balance in your home and work life that we can.

We are open to considering options including job sharing, part-time working, compressed hours working and different working locations, including hybrid working.

Why work for Historic England:

We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity for everyone. Diversity helps us to perform better and attract more people to support our work. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds.

We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and candidates with disabilities as they are underrepresented within Historic England at this level.

Historic England want all of our candidates to shine in the recruitment process. Please tell us what we can do to make sure you can show us your very best self. You can contact us by email at recruitmentTeam@Historicengland.org.uk if you have any recruitment queries.

At Historic England we use a hiring system called Applied. Applied is a behavioural science-backed recruitment platform that reduces bias, improves quality of hire and increases diversity. We do not use CV application for the majority of our hiring processes. You will answer a selection of questions that allow our hiring teams to test your skills and suitability for the role.

At Historic England, we value the expertise and individuality each candidate brings and want to hear about this in your own words. If you require the use of AI tools or other resources to support your application, we ask that all information is factually accurate, original, and reflects your own experience. To best represent yourself, we encourage you to write in your own words and use AI-generated content only as inspiration—not as direct input.

Provisional face to face interview dates for field test and interview: 1st June 2026 (field test), 2nd June 2026 (interview).